The History of Cheesy Disaster Movies [VIDEO]

Sharknado 2: The Second One became the latest disaster movie to be a hit. That made me think of how these movies ever started. And yes, people actually watched both Sharknado movies!

It all started in 1963 when movie producers hit on a success formula to make money: put a big ensemble of movie stars together in an unthinkable situation. Then sit back and watch the tickets sell. It was a comedy called It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad World. It worked.

At the end of the 60’s, the mood was somber, so movies started to reflect that. In 1970, movie producers once again pulled out the ensemble cast idea to boost box office numbers. This time, the movie wasn’t a comedy, but the granddaddy of all disaster movies, Airport. Again, it worked. And, it got an Oscar!

I should also mention that the music in most of these was composed by the legendary John Williams of Star Wars fame. Talk about a big time guy!

The ’70s became the era of the disaster movie. Some of the best were made. The ’80s saw only one in this category: The Day After. It was about a nuclear attack on the U.S..

The ’90s saw a few, but only 2 meet my standard of being cheesy. Then came Sharknado! Brilliant, except for one thing; no big stars. Tara Reid? Really? That’s ok, the cheesy factor outweighs that.

So what are the ultimate cheesy disaster movies? I am so glad you asked!

1

Airport

This was the first and the standard to go by. Charlton Heston was in most of these movies,but not this one. Oh, so was George Kennedy (he was also in Naked Gun)

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